Religious Practices and Political Mobilizations in Africa
Pratiques religieuses et mobilisations politiques en Afrique
Published on Thursday, November 21, 2024
Abstract
We are coordinating the session Religious Practices and Political Mobilizations in Africa at the next Conference of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (to be held in Kaunas, Lithuania) from 30 June to 04 July 2025.
Announcement
Argument
Religious practices often play a central role, albeit neglected by the literature, in the formation and reconfiguration of social and political landscapes, particularly in contexts where the margins for politicization and engagement are limited by unbalanced power relations. This phenomenon is particularly observable in contemporary African societies, where diverse religious practices are interwoven with civic and political life. This panel aims to explore the multiple, complex and even contradictory expressions of these religious practices, and their contribution to the analysis of political engagement and activism.
In this sense, practices such as spiritual gatherings/meetings/assemblies, collective or individual prayer, preaching and other techniques of the self such as fasting or veiling reflect not only expressions of piety, but also sites of reconfiguration and action by citizen subjects.
This session examines how these practices redefine the field of political engagement, integrating elements of social solidarity, collective mobilization and political subjectivation. From large institutionalized movements with international ramifications to local religious communities, these different religious activities are the bearers of important individual, collective and public projects, inaugurating a fluid dynamic of interweaving religious and political spheres in civic experience.
We will examine how everyday religious practices constitute forms of political and civic expression, in which new power relations and plural forms of authority can be identified, while remaining attentive to the influence of social factors and individual trajectories.
This panel aims to provide a space for interdisciplinary discussion, using heterogeneous points of entry and case studies, to examine the links between religious and political practices in contemporary African societies, thus helping to strengthen reflection on their influence in the public arena.
Submission guidelines
If you wish to participate to this panel, we invite you to propose your papers online
before December 20th 2024.
Convenors
- Salomé Okoekpen - Université de Genève
- Federico Carducci - Université de Genève
Subjects
- Religion (Main category)
- Zones and regions > Africa
- Mind and language > Religion > Sociology of religion
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology > Religious anthropology
Places
- Kaunas, Lithuania
Event attendance modalities
Full on-site event
Date(s)
- Friday, December 20, 2024
Keywords
- religion, mobilisation politique, Afrique
Contact(s)
- Salomé Okoekpen
courriel : salome [dot] okoepkpen [at] unige [dot] ch
Reference Urls
Information source
- Federico Carducci
courriel : federico [dot] carducci [at] unige [dot] ch
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Religious Practices and Political Mobilizations in Africa », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, November 21, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/12qiy
